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Author: David Bodapati
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WRC star Dani Sordo teams up with MRF Tyres
Sao Miguel (Portugal), 7 Sept 2021: Team MRF Tyres will continue the aggressive development push at next round of the FIA European Rally Championship at the Azores Rallye that takes place on the Portuguese archipelago.
For the Azores Rallye, Spanish ace and multiple World Rally Championship winner, Dani Sordo joins the team to drive the MRF Tyres Hyundai i20 R5.
Sordo is the third driver to compete in the Team MRF Tyres Hyundai i29 R5 in 2021 after Craig Breen started the year, taking a podium in Rally Liepaja, and Jari Huttunen competed in the Barum Czech Rally Zlin.
The development program now has a rotational roster of drivers, with the cooperation of Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing.
After two rallies in a row on tarmac, the FIA European Rally Championships starts the second half of the season on gravel with the 55th Azores Rallye.
Sordo and Team MRF Tyres will compete over 13 stages and 201.94km of competitive action.
For many rally fans, Sordo needs no introduction. A WRC veteran with 174 starts to his name, he has taken three overall wins, two with the Hyundai World Rally Team. Additionally, he has won the Junior World Rally Championship and the Spanish Rally Championship in 2005.
He has made just one appearance in the European Rally Championship. In 2018 he started the Barum Czech Rally Zlin a Hyundai i20 R5, taking third place.
His mission for MRF Tyres will follow the strategy that the team has been following for the past two seasons – that is data gathering and tyre development for the next generation of MRF rally tyres.
MRF Tyres is taking advantage of its unique position to access multiple drivers from the Hyundai stable to help provide additional experiences to its development program.
In addition, MRF Tyres have engaged the services of Paolo Andreucci, Simone Campedelli, Tamara Molinaro and Emil Lindholm in testing and competition to help gather data for the development of the tyres.
Round five of the FIA European Rally Championship, the Azores Rallye will take place from 16-18 September and you can follow the progress of Team MRF Tyres on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.Quotes
Dani Sordo, Driver, Hyundai i20 R5
“I am really excited to do the Azores Rallye with Team MRF Tyres and the Hyundai i20 R5. The Azores Rallye is an amazing rally to drive. I will give a lot of information for the tyres. We will use this rally as a test for the development of MRF Tyres.”“We will be there to get more information, to get a good result and to work with the MRF Tyres.”
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Thrilling home win is 7th of the season for Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen took home victory at the first Dutch Grand Prix held at Zandvoort in 36 years as title rival Lewis Hamilton finished second and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas completed the podium in P3.
New Delhi, 7 September 2021: Home favorite Max Verstappen took his 7th victory of the season as Lewis Hamilton finished P2, unable to challenge for victory but taking the fastest lap as a consolation. Valtteri Bottas took his seventh podium of the season achieving P3. Pierre Gasly maintained his qualifying position by finishing P4 in race. Fernando Alonso finished in P6 sandwiched by the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc in P5 and Carlos Sainz in P7. Sergio Perez managed to finish P8 after a dismal qualifying, second Alpine of Esteban Ocon crossed the line in P9 and Lando Norris rounded out the top 10.
McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo missed out on points, finishing P11 ahead of Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel in P12 and P13 respectively. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was unable to convert his high qualifying position into points as he finished P14, one position ahead of stand in teammate Robert Kubica replacing Kimi Raikkonen due to the Finn being in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19. Nicholas Latifi was classified P16 and teammate George Russel though classified in P17, DNF’d with two laps to go. Mick Schumacher of Haas was the last finisher in P18. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and second Haas of Nikita Mazepin did not finish the race.
The title protagonists started from the front row with the Dutchman on pole. Both got an equal start as the race got underway and Hamilton settled himself behind Verstappen with the gap hovering around 3s. Bottas maintained his position in P3. Meanwhile, Gasly too maintained P4 ahead of both the Ferrari cars, although the three of them lost touch to the top three cars.
Hamilton was the first car to pit of the top 10 runners to undercut Verstappen. It wasn’t the smoothest pitstop from the world champions as Verstappen pitted a lap later and emerged just less than 2s ahead. Both pitting for the medium tyres. Bottas in the lead was kept out in a bid to try and hold up Verstappen and let Hamilton closeupbehind. Both caught Bottas by lap 30 who yet to make a stop. Bottas was able to hold up Verstappen for only one lap as the dutchman made use of fresh tyres and passed the Finn. Bottas let past his teammate a corner later.
In the midfield Gasly pitted on lap 24, whilst everyone else pitted lap 30 onwards either for the medium or the hard tyres. The running order midway was Verstappen and Hamilton, who were a pitstop ahead of the rest of the field. After Bottas came Gasly, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, Perez- who had recovered till P8 now but was yet to make another pitstop, Alonso and Ocon.
With Hamilton hovering around 3s behind Verstappen, Mercedes brought him in for a second stop on another set of mediums. Verstappen followed suit a lap later albeit on the hard tyres as Red Bull did not have a set of medium tyres left. Hamilton was unable to close in the gap as he encountered traffic and remained 3-4s behind his Dutch rival.
Ultimately Hamilton was unable to fight for victory as he pitted for soft tyres with just two laps to go and set the lap record around Zandvoort. Verstappen cruised home to victory in front of his loyal supporters- the orange army as they are called, with Bottas in 3rd. Alonso fought back from P9 to P6, overtaking fellow countryman Sainz at a track where it was difficult to overtake while Perez completed his comeback from pitlane to P8.
Red Bull had a faster car and Verstappen extracted full performance out of it. They lost out in the constructor’s championship to Mercedes due to Perez being unable to advance to Q2 even. Mercedes were close behind in second as they lost out to pole position by just 0.03s to Verstappen. Mercedes and Hamilton put it down to missing FP2- due to an engine problem, as they were unable to optimise their car. Also, Mercedes struggled on the banked T3 corner as the W12 lost two-tenths there compared to the RB16B.
AlphaTauri showed great pace and were best of the rest in the hands of Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman was able to maintain his qualifying position in the race with no real challenge from the Ferrari’s as he finished in P4. Tsunoda struggled with pace the entire weekend as he barely made it to Q2 and was outqualified by Williams cars. Ferrari showed decent performance but expected better results as this was a track that suited their car with higher downforce characteristics. Sainz particularly was disappointed as he felt ‘slow’ in his own words, as he was overtaken by his childhood hero Alonso. Alpine showed decent race pace but lacked qualifying pace to challenge for higher positions. With all the cars so close it was difficult for the French cars to make progress, still Alonso maximizing the result in P6.
McLaren had an uncharacteristically dismal weekend, with both drivers calling it ‘abnormal’. They lacked the pace in qualifying as Norris was unable to make Q3 for the first time this season and Ricciardo could only manage P10. In the race they managed just a solitary point in P10, courtesy of Norris as they were unable to challenge the cars ahead of them. Aston Martin were in a no man’s land position as they were faster than the cars behind them, but traffic and superior pace of cars ahead prevented them from getting points. It was not helped by the fact that Vettel spun in the second half of the race dropping him out of contention for points.
Alfa Romeo showed impressive qualifying performance as Giovinazzi made it to Q3 and qualified P7. The Swiss based Italian team lacked race pace as well as a puncture prevented Giovinazzi from achieving points finish.Williams’ on paper result looks worse than it actually was with both drivers showing impressive qualifying performance but losing it in the barrier in Q2. The FW43B is a wind sensitive car, compounded with overdriving it meant they were unable to enter Q3 with Russell or Latifi. Russell showed impressive race pace as he maintained P11-P12 through the whole race before retiring on lap 70. Haas’ season story remains the same as Nikita Mazepin failed to finish while Mick Schumacher finished last, 3 laps down from the leader.
Saturday Qualifying results were:
P1: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull) P2: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes) P3: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P4: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P5: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P6: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari) P7: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P8: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine) P9: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine) P10: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren) P11: George Russell- 63 (Williams) P12: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin) P13: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P14: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P15: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri) P16: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull) P17: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin) P18: Robert Kubica- 88 (Alfa Romeo) P19: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas) P20: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas) Note – Latifi penalised five grid places for an unscheduled gearbox change; required to start from the pit lane, as car modified whilst under Parc Ferme conditions. Perez demoted to the back of the grid for use of additional power unit elements; required to start from the pit lane, as car modified whilst under Parc Ferme conditions.
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Can Marc Marquez take centre stage at MotorLand?
Teruel (Spain), 6 Sept 2021: There’s plenty to talk about after the British GP, and now saddles up to head back south to Spain and the stunning MotorLand Aragon, the 12th round of the 19 round the FIM MotoGP World Championship. The modern classic nestles like an outpost of speed in an otherwise rural, striking and arid landscape, inviting man and machine to make their mark. And, even more pertinent to previewing the weekend ahead, it’s also an anti-clockwise circuit… and that usually means one thing: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team).
The 5,077m (3.155 miles) anti-clockwise circuit has an interesting and complex layout featuring 10 left- and 7 right-hand corners, along with a longest straight measuring 968m (.601 miles). With a mixture of corners from hairpins to fast flowing turns, the front MICHELIN Power Slicks have been designed to meet these demands and give the riders the confidence they need through the variety of bends. To complement the fronts, the rear slicks have been designed to give high-speed stability and effectively put the power down onto the asphalt, attributes equally important to setting that all-important fast and consistent lap time.
Circuit Info courtesy: MichelinWatch the unseen footage from British MotoGP courtesy MotoGP.com here.
The eight-time World Champion didn’t cover himself with glory at Silverstone after an early crash that collected Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing), but there was no harm done for either party and the number 93 was quick to apologise. But momentum didn’t mean much for Marc Marquez when the paddock arrived in Germany, another anti-clockwise venue he’s made absolutely his own, with the Honda rider putting his foot down to take that history-making win and get back on the top step regardless. He’s traditionally the fastest man at MotorLand and the progress keeps coming in speed at least… so can he pull another stunner out of the bag despite a slightly tougher run of late than likely expected?
The good news – to add to his record there – is also the form seen from his fellow Honda riders at Silverstone. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) was ill on race day but teammate Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) had one of his best Sundays of the year so far, and Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) most definitely had his best weekend on the whole since joining Honda. Starting from pole, leading for a good while and then coming home in fifth, it was a big step forward for the number 44. And at Aragon? More good reading: Alex Marquez also took his first dry weather podium – and second overall, as a rookie – at MotorLand last season, and Nakagami took a pole, so Honda will be feeling optimistic of a high-scoring weekend in Aragon.
That’s also true of Aprilia. After a season of knocking on the door week-in, week-out, Silverstone finally saw that milestone reached: a first MotoGP™ era podium. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) has impressed for much of the year but his British GP – and last lap battle to hold off Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – were another impressive performance to underline some serious progress. He also took his previous premier class podium at Aragon, as well as more top finishes as the number 41 always seems to shine at the venue. And this weekend, there’s a headline in the other side of the garage too: Maverick Viñales.
After a rollercoaster few weeks, the Spaniard returns in black and red to take on a new challenge on the RS-GP, debuting early after already having signed for the Noale factory to race there in 2022. And on his test debut at Misano, the laptimes made for very exciting reading. Viñales already has podiums with two manufacturers, and wins… can he start adding more with Aprilia? And where will he slot back into the pack on his RS-GP debut?
Yamaha, meanwhile, remain on the front foot in the title fight. A stunning race from Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) at Silverstone as issues hit for his closest rivals sees him coming into the weekend a whopping 65 points clear, although the Alcañiz venue has never been the best for Yamaha. That may change who stands on the top step, but it can’t change who leads the standings. Quartararo could sit out the next two weekends and still lead the Championship by a minimum of 15 points, so he has some room to ride clever and focus on damage limitation if he needs to. That said, he himself pointed out the huge step forward taken by the Iwata marque in Austria, another track that’s traditionally tougher, so can he flip the form book? Former teammate Franco Morbidelli did do that on one visit to MotorLand last year too…
Cal Crutchlow returns to partner Quartararo at Monster Energy Yamaha and will be looking to keep making progress and taking data, and Jake Dixon will also get another ride out on the Petronas Yamaha SRT machine. After a solid debut at Silverstone, can he build on that? His teammate, Valentino Rossi, also made a good start and after having gone straight to Q2 at Silverstone before late race grip issues saw him drop down the order. Can the Doctor keep that form rolling on his last visit to MotorLand?
Similar happened for Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) at Suzuki, as the reigning World Champion ran out of steam – for steam, read grip – later in the British GP and came home in ninth, staying ahead of Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 Factory Racing) by a whisker. But with Quartararo winning, ninth is what’s left him 65 down on the top – and he’ll be gunning hard to take the opportunity at MotorLand to hit back.
Teammate Alex Rins, meanwhile, had no such trouble. The 2019 winner couldn’t quite stage a repeat but he did take his first podium of the season at Silverstone in second, and guess who won last year on our first visit to MotorLand? The number 42 was sublime and he’ll be heading in on that injection of confidence. In fact, Suzuki will likely be feeling pretty confident all round at Aragon, as they’re the only two riders who were on the podium in both visits to the track last season.
And what of Ducati? At Silverstone it was a more muted run for the Borgo Panigale factory. Miller fought for the podium, Martin fell victim to Marc Marquez’ crash, and both Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) had a tougher race to fade to outside the top ten. Bagnaia conceded it made a chance of the crown an even longer shot too, but until grip trouble hit he’d been fast as ever. And Miller got back in the mix. Can they do so again at a track that’s been traditionally tougher hunting ground? And can Zarco move forward to the postcode he was in for much of the first half of the season?
Last year, we saw KTM have a more difficult first weekend at Aragon followed by a big step forward – with the top Austrian machine beating the top Ducati too, so there’s reason to expect them to fight for more top finishes. At Silverstone Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) put on another stunning Sunday charge to go from 12th to 6th too – and complete the statistic of six factories in the top six for the first time since 1972 – and there were also standouts from Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) and Petrucci as both stormed into the top ten. Will experience from last season help to maintain that now? Binder and Lecuona have now raced at MotorLand twice in MotoGP™, which is something that couldn’t be said of Silverstone.
Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) will be looking for a lot more from MotorLand too. The Portuguese rider was on an absolute charge earlier this season, but since Assen he’s not scored points. With proven talent, speed and smarts, the Portuguese rider will more definitely reappear at the front, but will it be sooner rather than a little later?
This time it’s one assault on Aragon for MotoGP, and there’s plenty to watch out for. Can Marc Marquez make a stand on home turf? Will Suzuki be the team to beat? Or can Yamaha keep that form book flipped in 2021? Tune in at Eurosport in India at 5.30 pm IST (local race time at Aragon 14:00 -GMT +2) for the MotoGP race on Sunday as the lights go out for the Gran Premio TISSOT de Aragon! Moto3 race is at 2.30pm in India followed by Moto2 at 3.50pm. The telecast in India is on EuroSport channel and Discovery + app.
MotoGP Championship top five: 1 Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – 206
2 Joan Mir – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki – 141
3 Johann Zarco* – Pramac Racing – Ducati – 137
4 Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team – Ducati – 136
5 Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team – Ducati – 118
*Independent Team rider -
Arjun Maini finishes best-ever 6th at DTM races
Styria (Austria), 6 Sept 2021: Mercedes-AMG driver Arjun Maini scored his best-ever finish in the DTM championship with the Indian finishing a career-best sixth and seventh in the two races held at the Red Bull Ring circuit.
The Omega Seiki and J.K.Tyre backed driver claimed a double points finish by claiming sixth and seventh over the course of the two races held at the Austrian race circuit. The result means the rookie has now had his most productive DTM weekend to date, with his GetSpeed racing team, who are also new to the series, now slowly making their way up the standings.
Maini’s pace was on display for all to see from the get-go with the Mercedes-AMG driver finishing the first practice session in fourth. An engine issue meant that the Indian driver had to miss the second practice session entirely but despite his limited running, Maini managed to qualify for Race1 in third.
The sole Indian on the grid made a strong getaway during the first race of the weekend though a botched pit stop saw him tumble down the order, which ultimately cost Maini his shot at a first podium in the ultra-competitive German racing championship. The Indian was locked in an intense battle with former Formula 1 star Alex Albon for a large section of the race and eventually missed out on a top-five finish by a whisker.
Race 2 saw Maini qualify tenth, though a shrewd pit call meant he was able to fight through the pack and ultimately end the race in seventh place.
“It’s been a great weekend for me personally,” Maini stated.
“The misfortune from the earlier races is now firmly behind me and I’m starting to get a proper feel of what it’s like to race GT cars. Obviously, the first half of the season was a learning experience for me and I now feel more confident heading into the races and the results reflect the same.
“GetSpeed too have done a fantastic job of adapting to the DTM and I believe we are well-positioned to end the championship strongly. The target for the remainder of the season has to be a podium, and I believe the team and I are capable of meeting this goal.”
Maini’s progress over the course of the year has been noticeable and appreciated. The weekend in Austria was a much better indicator of Maini’s pace in the series and he will now look to end the season strongly with three race weekends remaining.
The next round of the championship is scheduled to take place at the Assen race circuit in Holland in a fortnight’s time, September 18-20. -
Verstappen claims popular home victory; beats Hami
Zandvoort (The Netherlands) 5 Sept 2021: Max Verstappen delivered a faultless drive in front of a packaged Zandvoort to take a hugely popular home victory in the Dutch Grand Prix, the 13th of the 22-round FIA Formula 1 World Championship here on Sunday. He beat title Lewis Hamilton by more than 20 seconds after the Mercedes driver made a late pit stop to salvage the point for fastest lap. Third place went to Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes.
At the start of the race, pole sitter Verstappen made a superb getaway to take the lead. Hamilton also made a good start but as he and Bottas jostled for position through the first two corners Verstappen was allowed to power ahead and by the end of the opening lap the Dutch drivers has established a 1.7s gap to Hamilton.
Behind the top three, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly got away well to hold fourth place ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. At the back of the field Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull was forced to start from the pit lane after an overnight engine change but as he passed the Haas of Nikita Mazepin in the early laps he flat-spotted a tyres and had to pit for an early switch to medium tyres. It was the start of an impressively long first stint for the Mexican driver as he launched a recovery drive.
At the front the order was stable, with Verstappen holding a 3.5s lead over Hamilton. Bottas began to drift off the front pair, however, and by lap 18 he was more than seven seconds adrift of his team-mate.
Then, at the end of lap 20, Hamilton dived for the pits and made the switch to medium tyres. Red Bull responded by pitting Versatppen on the next lap and he saw off the undercut to rejoin two seconds ahead of Hamilton.
Pérez, meanwhile, was making stealthy progress through the pack and by lap 25 he was up to 14th place. His progress picked up two laps later when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Williams’ George Russell and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi pitted ahead of him. He rose to P11 and began to hunt down McLaren’s Lando Norris. He swiftly closed up to the McLaren, but having started on medium tyres, Norris was going long and he was able to match the Red Bull driver’s times.
As the race passed half distance Verstappen was once again told to push as it became clear that Mercedes were plotting a second attempt at undercutting the Dutchman. Hamilton pitted at the end of lap 39 for a set of medium tyres but thanks to a set of potent laps Verstappen was able to make his own pit stop, for hartd tyres, of lap 40 and once againm he emerged with a clear gap to his championship rival.
Further back, Norris finally made his sole stop for tyres on lap 43 and Pérez could race into clear air.
The Mexican made his sole visit to the pit lane at the end of lap 48 and took on a set of soft tyres. He rejoined in P12 and quickly passed Russell to relaunch his assault on the points positions. He soon began to exert pressure on McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and on lap 56 passed the Australian to claim P9.
His next target was the Australian’s team-mate, Norris, and over the next 10 laps he turned a sizeable deficit into a gap of just half a second before again passing on the around the outside of Turn 1. His final mission was to get past Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and in the final laps the Red Bull driver passed the Frenchman to claim eighth place.
In those closing stages Hamilton closed to within 1.5 seconds of the lead RBR16B but with his tyres fading and Max expertly managing the gap, the Mercedes driver eventually abandoned his pursuit of victory and pitted for soft tyres.
Hamilton took the fastest lap point on the final tour of Zandvoort, but Verstappen’s seventh win of the season puts him back on top of the Drivers’ Championship standings with 224.5 points to Hamilton’s 221.5. In the Constructors’ Championship Mercedes still top the standings with 244.5 points, 12 ahead of Red Bull Racing.
With Bottas third at the flag, fourth place went to AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly. The French driver also put in an impressive drive to finish ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and the Alpine of Fernando Alonso. Seventh place went to Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari and with Checo in P8 the final two points places went to Ocon and Norris.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 72 1:30’05.395
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 72 1:30’26.327 20.932
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 72 1:31’01.855 56.460
4 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 71 1:30’17.183 1 lap /11.788
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 1:30’22.175 1 lap /16.780
6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 71 1:30’50.864 1 lap /45.469
7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 71 1:30’52.896 1 lap /47.501
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 71 1:30’53.479 1 lap /48.084
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 71 1:30’54.465 1 lap /49.070
10 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 71 1:30’57.725 1 lap /52.330
11 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 71 1:31’10.322 1 lap /1’04.927
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:30’22.717 2 laps /17.322
13 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:30’24.941 2 laps /19.546
14 Anotnio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:30’33.172 2 laps /27.777
15 Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:31’05.853 2 laps /1’00.458
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 70 1:31’07.745 2 laps /1’02.350
17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 69 1:29’55.249 3 laps
18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 69 1:31’08.196 3 laps /1’02.801
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 48 1:02’36.678 Transmission
Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 41 54’07.352 Hydraulics -
Razgatlioglu extends WorldSBK lead with 2nd win
Magny-Cours (France), 5 Sept 2021: Race 2 for the Motul French Round at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours gave Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) his second win of the weekend to extend his Championship lead over Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). A race that saw their rivalry ignite was relentless from the start, with the two putting on a spectacular show clear of the opposition.
Razgatlioglu got the better start from pole position and initially held the lead of the race but used a wider line through the long right-hander of Estoril, allowing Rea to sneak up the inside to take the lead. On the run down to Turn 5, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) wanted to get involved in the lead battle but Razgatlioglu and Rea were able to keep him at arm’s length.
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was running in third from the early stages of the race after jumping up from the second row of the grid as he claimed his first podium of the weekend after a challenging weekend for the British rider. Third place for Redding meant he lost ground in the Championship to leader Razgatlioglu, while Rea also gained on Redding in the standings.
The race-winning move came on Lap 11 after an incredible two laps of battling between Razgatlioglu and Rea with the Turkish star overtaking Rea into the Turn 5 hairpin of Adelaide on Lap 10 before the six-time Champion responded into the Imola chicane. Rea retained the lead of the race for just another lap before Razgatlioglu was able to pass Rea again into Adelaide. The pair battled it out throughout the race before Rea settled for second after making a save in the closing stages of the race.P1 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
“I’m really happy. This weekend, my team did an incredible job. Every race we were able to improve the bike. I’m really happy. I am focused on every race and I am always focused on for the win.”
P2 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“Toprak’s pace in the last three or four laps was incredible. It was time for me, like yesterday, to consolidate. I felt like we had a bit better fight today, I could at least put my ZX-10RR where I wanted. It was like going to school. He’s so good in some areas, I was stronger in others, but it’s good information to take away to Barcelona. I really enjoyed that, enjoyed the battle. It got really close in some areas but I had to think about the long game.”
P3 Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I was wrestling that bike for 21 laps. It’s not an easy track for the Ducati as we saw this weekend. I didn’t give up the fight. We had a tough Superpole, tough Race 1 but I really tried hard. I said to the guys today that if we could get the front two rows in the Superpole Race and then a podium, I’ll be happy. I knew I had to work hard for it and I did, I’m completely destroyed. It doesn’t matter. We got the podium and I’m really happy.” WorldSBK Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours – Race 2
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +2.908s
3. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +8.406s
4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +10.329s
5. Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) +10.734s
6. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) +11.467s -
Metronomic Razgatlioglu romps to victory: WorldSBK Race 1
Dramatic racing, incredible battles and more featured throughout Race 1 at the French Round
Magny-Cours (France), 4 Sept 2021: The first race of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours delivered action throughout the 21-lap encounter with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) taking victory with an incredible performance of pace and consistency to win by more than four seconds as he gained a five-point swing over nearest rival Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) at the Motul French Round, while title rival Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) endured a difficult Saturday in France as he finished 12th in Race 1.
Razgatlioglu got a good start and took the lead through Turn 1 but soon found himself shuffled back thanks to the run down to the Turn 5 hairpin of Adelaide. He responded when Rea took the lead and made a move on Lap 4 at Adelaide to reclaim the lead of the race before he was able to pull out enough of a gap to keep Rea at arm’s length.
Rea was able to respond as the laps progressed, closing the gap to just a couple of tenths but could not make a move stick before Razgatlioglu extended his lead out in front to more than a second ahead of Rea, holding on to secure his second victory in a row following on from his win in Race 2 at Navarra. Rea’s second place extends his winless drought to seven races since he won at Assen in Race 2. Razgatlioglu showed remarkable consistent pace throughout the 21-lap encounter, always lapping in the 1’37s bracket and he also becomes the first Yamaha rider to take 18 podiums in a single season.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) claimed his third podium in WorldSBK with third place after he got a good start to the race to move up the field from fifth place, before battling the even faster-starting Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) for fourth place; eventually passing the Italian at Turn 5 on Lap 12. He then gained a position on Lap 17 when Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) crashed at Turn 8 on Lap 17, forcing the British rider out of the race. It meant Locatelli was able to claim third place with Rinaldi being promoted to fourth.WorldSBK Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours – Race 1
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +4.467s
3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +10.285s
4. Michael Ruben Rinaldi +13.283s
5. Michael van der Mark +15.535s
6. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) +17.824 -
Max Verstappen beats Hamilton to put his Red Bull on pole
Zandvoort (The Netherlands), 4 Sept 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen beat Formula 1 championship rival Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by just three hundredths of a second to claim pole position for his home race the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas finished third for Mercedes, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly put in an impressive performance to claim fourth place on the grid.
At the start of the Q1 Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez set the early benchmark with a lap of 1:10.700. Verstappen was close behind on track, however, and he powered past his team-mate’s time to reset the bar at 1:10.036.
Mercedes, meanwhile, sent both its drivers out on medium tyres and Pérez dropped to fourth place as as Hamilton took second place ahead of Bottas. Pérez extended his run, but despite getting down to 1:10.530 he dropped to P7 as better times came in. And the Mexican’s failure to set a secure time early in the session ended up being his undoing.
Knowing that the track was ramping up massively, Red Bull readied the Mexican for a final run. However, seeking a workable gap on the short track, drivers began to form a solid queue at the end of pit lane and Pérez’s exit was slowed. Thus he failed to make it across the line before the chequered flag and as rivals posted improvements the Mexican fell down the order and he was eliminated in P16 ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, Alfa Romeo’s Robert Kubica and the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikia Mazepin.
Verstappen was straight into action at the start of Q2 and he posted a tough target at the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:09.071. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc got closest to that time ahead of the final runs, with the Monegasque setting a time of 1:09.437 to take P2 ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Hamilton and Bottas.
Williams’ George Russell was one of the first out on track for the final runs of the second segment but at the end of his flying lap he carried too much speed into the penultimate corners and slid off into the barriers. The red flags were quickly displayed and the clock was stopped with just under four minutes remaining.
However, when the session eventually resumed it lasted less than two minutes as on his flying lap Nichola Latifi lost control in Turn 8 and the second Williams went into the barriers hard. The red flags were again shown and Race Control quickly indicated that the session would not be resumed. It meant that eliminated after the middle segment were Russell in 11th place followed Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Norris, Latifi and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
In Q3 Verstappen again went out early to stake his claim to pole and he claimed provisional pole with an impressive lap of 1:08.923. Neither Mercedes driver had an initial response and Bottas took P2 0.099s behind the Red Bull, with Hamilton just under five hundredths of a second further back in third place.
In the final runs Verstappen proved unbeatable. Hamilton found more time but in the end it was only enough to match the Red Bull driver’s earlier lap and Verstappen secured pole for his home grand prix with a stunning lap of 1:08.885.
Bottas was left with third place, while Gasly shone in claiming fourth spot on the grid ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Giovinazzi was seventh, while Esteban Ocon took eighth place ahead of Alpine team-mate Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Rakkonen test COVID positive
The FIA, Formula 1 and Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN can on Saturday confirm that during onsite PCR testing for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, Kimi Räikkönen has tested positive for COVID-19. In accordance with COVID-19 protocols he will take no further part in this Event. All contacts have been declared.
The procedures set out by the FIA and Formula 1 will ensure no wider impact on the Dutch Grand Prix.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:08.885 7 222.579
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:08.923 0.038 0.055 7 222.456
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:09.222 0.337 0.489 7 221.496
4 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:09.478 0.593 0.861 6 220.679
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:09.527 0.642 0.932 6 220.524
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:09.537 0.652 0.947 6 220.492
7 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:09.590 0.705 1.023 6 220.324
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:09.933 1.048 1.521 6 219.244
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:09.956 1.071 1.555 6 219.172
10 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:10.166 1.281 1.860 6 218.516
11 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:10.332 1.261 1.826 5 218.000
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:10.367 1.296 1.876 5 217.891
13 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:10.406 1.335 1.933 5 217.771
14 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:11.161 2.090 3.026 7 215.460
15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:11.314 2.243 3.247 4 214.998
16 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:10.530 0.701 1.004 9 217.388
17 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:10.731 0.902 1.292 7 216.770
18 Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:11.301 1.472 2.108 9 215.037
19 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:11.387 1.558 2.231 11 214.778
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:11.875 2.046 2.930 10 213.32 -
Both Ferraris fastest in FP2; Hami brings in Red Flag
Zandvoort (The Netherlands), 3 Sept 2021: Charles Leclerc beat Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz by just over 1500ths of a second to hand Ferrari a 1-2 result in the second practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix. Esteban Ocon finished third, but there was trouble for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who stopped on track at Zandvoort with oil pressure problems, bringing out the red flags.
After a short delay to running the session got underway five minutes late with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas setting the early pace with a lap of 1:11.664. Hamilton’s first run yielded 1m11.911s and he climbed to second, but there his progress stopped, as on his second attempt he reported a sudden loss of power and pulled over at the edge of the track at Turn 8. The red flags were swiftly shown and the session was halted with just six minutes on the clock.
Mercedes later reported the issue to be an oil feed issue and Hamilton was restricted to the garage for the remainder of the session. He would finish in seventh place on the timesheet.
When running resumed, Sebastian Vettel turned his first laps of the session after lengthy repairs to cure an ERS issue that sidelined him for much of the first session. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was also back in action after exiting the morning session after just three laps due to a hydraulic leak that also caused a small fire.
With 30 minutes left Ocon bolted on soft tyres and jumped to the top of the order with a lap of 1:11.074.
Haas’ Nikita Mazepin then brought out the red flags for a second time when he lost the rear of his Haas on the entry to Turn 11 and beached the car in the gravel.
After a brief delay while his car was recovered, Ferrari moved to the top of the order and Leclerc’s time of 1:10.902 was good enough to seal P1 ahead of Sainz, with Ocon third ahead of Bottas. The morning’s quickest driver, Max Verstappen, finished fifth with a lap 1:11.264 that left him almost four tenths of a second behind Sainz. The Dutch driver spent most of the session focusing on race runs, however.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso ended the session in sixth place ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, while McLaren’s Lando Norris finished eighth ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:10.902 29 216.247
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:11.056 0.154 28 215.779
3 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:11.074 0.172 33 215.724
4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:11.132 0.230 33 215.548
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:11.264 0.362 28 215.149
6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:11.280 0.378 30 215.101
7 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:11.462 0.560 29 214.553
8 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:11.488 0.586 27 214.475
9 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:11.678 0.776 30 213.906
10 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:11.713 0.811 24 213.802
11 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:11.911 1.009 3 213.213
12 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:11.946 1.044 27 213.109
13 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:12.096 1.194 31 212.666
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.136 1.234 29 212.548
15 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:12.157 1.255 25 212.486
16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:12.206 1.304 31 212.342
17 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:12.607 1.705 31 211.169
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:12.610 1.708 27 211.160
19 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:12.835 1.933 12 210.508
20 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:12.855 1.953 30 210.450 -
Razgatlioglu storms clear of contenders: WorldSBK FP2
The gloves look like they’re about to come off in France, with the top 12 riders on Day 1 covered by less than three quarters of a second
Magny-Cours (France), 3 Sept. 2021: The 2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s opening day of action from the Motul French Round at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours was electric as the top three in the Championship went head-to-head. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) was on fire as he stormed to the top of the standings, with Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in second and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in third. The afternoon’s session was dry, having been damp in FP1 in the morning.
At Yamaha, it was Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) who was flying the flag. Razgatlioglu put in a long stint on the same tyres and set 11 mid-1’37s out of a 13-lap run, showing his sensational consistency as he led the way for the main portion of the session and continued to improve his pace. Come the end of the day, it was Razgatlioglu who was fastest overall, whilst Locatelli ended up in 11th, as he continues to get used to the R1 around the French circuit.
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was up inside the top six as he continued to get to grips with the Magny-Cours circuit in the dry conditions for the first time in his career. Having been inside the top two positions for the last seven races, Redding is coming into the Motul French Round in fine form and was good in the mixed conditions in the morning. Redding finished the afternoon in second with teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi down in ninth, with work to do for the Italian.
The Kawasaki pairing of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and teammate Alex Lowes were in good form as they took to the dry Magny-Cours circuit. Rea set a consistent pace and for the majority of the session, was sitting well inside the top five, whilst Lowes was also right with his teammate. The British duo worked away hard until the end of the session, before finishing third and eighth respectively, having been first and third in the morning’s damp-but-drying session. Rea’s in-touch with his Championship rival Razgatlioglu, but the Turk’s pace might well be giving him the edge over the race distance if conditions are to remain the same across Saturday and Sunday.
WorldSBK Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours – Race 2
